Bad Wiring

[GS850L]

I've been having a problem with my turn signals and my starter button working reliably. This is an intermittent problem and is affected by turning the handlebars to the left and to the right. It has even caused the bike to die. I am also having a problem getting a good charge to my battery. I am only putting out 12.2V and I have to have the choke pulled out a little bit to keep it idling while its warm. Is there something specific that I should be looking for when I diagnose this problem. I know I should be looking for bare wires causing shorts, but is there anything else I should do or keep my eye out for?

[Kaiser Sosei]

I would start with the electrical schematic for your bike. depending on the copy of the schematic you have, it might be easier to make an enlarged color photocopy of it for ease of reading. Sometimes those diagrams are scrunched onto one page and you need a magnifying glass to read them.

Almost all of a motorcycles harness connections are behind the headlight. I would remove the headlight and the shell for the headlight, just to make playing with the wires easier. You may get lucky, It's possible that you just have a loose connection in one of the connectors. If everything looks connected, take the connectors apart and shoot with some electrical cleaner.

Hopefully with the headlight out of the way, you will be able to move the wires around to see if there are any loose connections, or bare wires.

I remember the first time i looked behind the headlight at the rat's nest, my eyes just glazed over. It's a lot easier without the headlight and bucket in the way.

[BRycraft]

Wiring connector

There is a blue molex connector that is located just behind the steering stem, it has 9 wires and a short pigtail with a yellow/white wire that plugs into another dual yellow/white wire, this connector is what supports the left hand switch. horn, turn signal etc.. if that connector is partially loose or there is tension on the harness turning the bars left to right could in fact be pulling just enough on the connector to kill the circuits it supplies. Trace the large harness that goes up under the headlamp and follow it back, you will find the blue molex connector, or just follow the harness from the left hand switch to where it plugs in, this particular connector does not go into the headlamp bucket. Look for backed out pins on the back side of the connector, sometimes they back themselves out of the plastic connector. They sell a special tool for releacing the pin or a very small flat blade screwdriver works well, once the pins are released from the harness (do only 1 at a time so you dont cross anything up) look on the back side of the pin there is a small tab that has to be lifted up, when you slide the pin back into the plastic connector the raised up tab on the pin will catch and lock the pin in place, the only way to release those pins is to flaten the tab in the housing itself and then it slides out easily. Could be loose, or damaged, but turning the bars is what would pull on that particular harness and connector maybe making and breaking contact. I have a 82 850 and my print shows that connector is dark blue.
Good Luck
Bill

[wiredgeorge]

GS850L - It is pretty common for older bikes to have this problem. You have LOOSE connectors and there are probably no shorts based on your short description of the problem. Find the connector that connect BOTH switch gears (right and left) and unplug them. Once unplugged, spray the contacts on both sides with contact cleaner (computer stores and autoparts stores sell electrical contact cleaner). Then coat the contacts with dielectic grease (autoparts store). Then put the connectors back together and put a wire tie around each of the two connectors and tighten it as much as you can. Pull the two connected connectors out of the way of your tank so that when you remove or install your tank, the wiring won't be pulled loose. Tie the connectors behind the frame neck if you can so the tank doesn't pull on them. Make sure they are routed correctly so that when you turn your bars the connectors don't get yanked on.

[GS850L]

Thanks!

Thanks guys for your input, Ill put it to good use this weekend and hopefully I'll be riding again in no time. I'll let you know what I find. Have a great weekend everyone!